Free Haunted Waters by Jerry B. Jenkins, Chris Fabry Page A

blocking my view and I didn’t see a car coming. I was halfway into the street when the car slammed on its brakes and squealed to a stop.
    The driver was just as shaken as I was. “Son, I don’t know how I stopped. Must’ve been some angels looking out for you.”
    The other time was at my uncle’s house in Indiana. While Ashley and I were fooling around with a tractor, she got on and pretended to start it. Only it did start and it raced straight at me. Ashley banged into the back of a hay wagon. If I hadn’t jumped out of the way, I would have been flat as a Frisbee.
    But neither of us had faced anything like this. As we floated in the air, I thought about my friends and wondered what they would think when they heard that Ashley and I were dead.
    The SUV hit the water and the air bags blew into our faces. Like lightning, Sam unfastened his seat belt and tried to open his door, but the water kept it shut. It gushed through the broken window as we sank.
    I held my breath as the water rushed in.
    Ashley screamed, which made Dylan scream.
    Sam yelled, “Don’t panic! I’m going to get us out of this.”
    Ashley stopped screaming, but none of us could calm Dylan.

Chapter 48

    Sam helped Bryce out of his seat belt and told Dylan to hold his breath as the water poured over us. “Buddy, we’re getting out of here. I promise,” he shouted over the torrent.
    He fumbled with the car seat, his hands shaking in the freezing water. “We’ll go out the broken window. Bryce first, then you, Ashley. I’ll follow with Dylan. Swim like crazy to the surface and get to the shore.”
    We were out of our belts as the freezing water almost filled the Land Cruiser. We floated to the ceiling, where there were a couple of inches of air. The SUV turned slowly, like a boat listing to one side.
    “Act fast and don’t be afraid,” Sam said. “God’s going to help you.”
    I wondered how he knew that.
    “Jesus, help us get out of here!” I prayed.
    “God, please help us,” Bryce said.
    Sam held Dylan tight to his chest while the Land Cruiser went fully under. He signaled wildly and pushed Bryce and me toward the open window.
    Dylan was holding his breath, but his little face looked chalky and his eyes were glassy. This was a kid who only went into a pool if he had his plastic turtle that held him way above the water.

Chapter 49

    I sucked in a last good lungful of air and dived out the window. The cold water stung my eyes. I turned and reached for Ashley’s hand, and she shot out, bubbles streaming from her mouth and nose.
    It felt like we had dived into a pitcher of freezing lemonade. The murky water enveloped us and seemed to reach into our souls, trying to take our air away.
    We rose hand in hand, struggling to keep from sucking water into our lungs. Just as I thought I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, golden rays shimmered above us and we broke to the surface, gasping.

Chapter 50

    As soon as Bryce and I reached the surface, I thrashed about, freezing but searching desperately for Dylan and Sam. “They’re not going to make it, Bryce!” I screamed. “Dylan will never hold his breath that long!”
    Bryce tugged me a few yards to some rocks where we sat huddled, trying to protect each other from the icy wind that froze the water to our clothes and skin. “Please, Jesus, please, Jesus, please, Jesus,” was all I could say.
    My whole body was numb, even worse than at Dad’s funeral, and I couldn’t move my fingers. The frigid water lapped in a lazy rhythm against the rocks.
    “I’m going back down,” Bryce said.
    “No!” I said, holding him with all my might. “Don’t try and be a hero. I can’t lose you too.”
    Bryce’s lips were blue and quivering, and his eyes were red. “I’m not trying to be a hero. I just want my little brother and my dad to be okay.”
    His dad? Bryce had never called Sam that before.
    I kept my eyes peeled on the water. Dylan could be a pain, but I loved him with all my heart and